01x06 - Learning Curve: Part 2

[bunniefuu]

[Watcher] The beacons
of the Watchers.

For millenia,

they have been
the most coveted treasures

in the universe.

When the scholar known as Mentor

and his android companion, Drax,
discovered one of these keys

to the legendary
Universal Library,

they believed they soon
would be journeying

to that vast repository
of all knowledge.

Their joy, however,
was shortlived,

for the beacon was stolen

by the notorious
space pirate, Nebula,

and the two seekers
were left helpless in the void.

It was thus that they were
encountered by the Silver Surfer

and Pip the Troll.

Hoping to learn how to find
lost Zenn-La,

the Silver Surfer agreed to join
Mentor and Drax on their quest.

The journey to the Universal
Library proved frought with danger.

Now, at last, the Silver Surfer
and his companions

have reached the ancient home
of my people.

But not even I,

the last remaining Watcher,

know if he will survive.

[theme music playing]

[siren blaring]

Pip, Mentor,
it appears we have survived.

Oh, my ringing ears.

Even my eyes feel numb.

[Mentor] The Universal Library.

It's like a giant computer.

These buildings
must be memory chips,

each designed to hold more data

than any one being
could comprehend.

But what has happened to them?

How have they become such ruins?

I cannot imagine.

In half a millennium
of searching,

Drax and I never expected
to find this.

I hate to be the one
to break it to you, Mentor,

but I don't think Draxy cares
about anything right now.

Drax, my poor old friend.

You've always given so much more

than a crazy old man
like me deserves.

Now I understand the lapses
you spoke of, Mentor.

He is like a mechanism

whose control system
has shut down.

And this, I'm afraid,
may be the final shutdown.

All because of Thanos.

Thanos?

He and I have had
our own encounter.

Then you will understand
the true purpose of my quest...

To obtain the knowledge
to destroy him,

even though Thanos is,

I shudder to admit, my brother.

Your brother?

But why...

Behind us.

[Silver Surfer] The most
primitive of life-forms

here on a world
of the highest technology.

Could it be responsible
for the wreckage all around?

What if it were to destroy

the very data that could
bring me back to Shalla Bal?

[grunts]

[Silver Surfer grunting]

The creature's strength
surpasses my own.

But, surely, it cannot
withstand the Power Cosmic.

[grunts]

It has the power
to adapt to my attack.

Strange. They seem
more curious than malicious.

Perhaps I can utilize
that curiosity to my benefit.

[virals roaring]

[Nebula] Mm. Not bad.
Great pecs and a brain.

I don't know which is worse, the
welcoming committee at this dump

or the rest of the clientele.

You must be the infamous Nebula.

Silver skin,
Power Cosmic, that board.

You must be the equally
infamous Herald of Galactus.

No more.

You out of a job?

Then you shouldn't mind
doing one for me.

I need your help

and Mentor's.

All the knowledge
in the universe

doesn't mean zip to me
unless I can access it.

Yeah, well, that's one trick

we haven't exactly
figured out ourselves.

We don't even know
if any data is left here

or if it's all been lost
out in space.

Oh, you'll get it all down.

And as soon as I have
enough new military knowledge

to sell
to The Kree and The Skrull.

Geatar and I'll holster our
weapons and wave good-bye.

Were I you, Nebula,
I would keep my weapons ready

but aimed that way.

[Nebula]
Surfer, you've got a point.

For any of us to get
the information we seek,

we must find a way to ferret out

the Library's secrets.

Yeah, and in the meantime,

isn't there some old saying
about "safety first"?

I will do what I can.

What is this?

In my travels
through the universe,

have I seen many structures
of similar form.

They can only be one thing.

You've done it, Silver Surfer.

You've found the index
to the Library.

The Watchers were nothing
if not efficient.

These controls can be operated

by almost any conceivable
form of life.

Get on with it, Mentor.

I've got a profit to make.

And I, a way home to find.

So, you're a pirate, huh?
I'm a troll.

But where's
the rest of your crew?

I don't know.

After the beacon guided us down,

I sent the boys to check out
the lay of the land.

Nobody came back.

Those things
must've gotten them.

[crackling static]

Welcome
to the Universal Library.

To access the index, press...

What's happening?

Where'd she go?

Mentor, you must persist.

We are all so near to satisfying
our greatest desires.

After all Drax and I
have gone through,

Nothing can stop me now.

Alas, courageous quester
of knowledge and truth,

if you are accessing
the Universal Library now,

you have arrived too late.

[Watcher Prime] Always have
the Watchers held themselves

to a strict code
of non-interference,

but when an intergalactic plague

struck the Arad Nebula,

destroying the food supply for
thousands of inhabited worlds,

even we were moved.

Utilizing all the biological
knowledge our race ever gathered,

we worked feverishly,
and created a cure.

Incalculable lives were saved

but amid all the rejoicing

the civilization of the Watchers.

We had not sufficiently
stabilized the genetic material

forming the basis of the cure,

and it created a new illness,

which mutated everyone
on the planet

into bizarre "virals."

Only I, Oatu,

was immune to the infection.

When we, the Watchers,
created the beacons,

never did we believe

the Universal Library

would be damaged

or become a trap

for anyone who found it.

You, watching this,
have my apology

for you, too, are doomed.

No! It can't be!

Is-is that guy for real?

It's a bluff to scare us away!

Have come this far
only to strike a wall of stone?

[Geatar] Help me!

[groaning]

Surfer, Nebula was wrong!

Those viral things
didn't get her crew,

they are the crew!

[Gamora] Lord Glenn,

this is, indeed,
a momentous occasion.

Welcome to the Wanderers.

I am Gamora,

first citizen of this league
of intergalactic survivors.

We are pleased
that a people of your stature

has chosen to join us.

[Lord Glenn] It is appropriate.

Like all of you

we Draconians have had to flee

the annihilation of our planet.

We will count on your help then,

in achieving our goal...

Vengeance on Galactus,
devourer of worlds

and on his lackey,
the Silver Surfer!

[Mentor] All my life,
I have strived for knowledge

so I could have some
control over events

but then things like this occur

and there's nothing
that I can do.

Perhaps there is something.

- Surfer! Please help us!
- Surfer! Please help us!

I fear it is too late.

They are hopelessly intertwined.

Surfer!

Take a gander over there!

It is as though the others
are summoning their new brother!

[Pip] They're at it again!

[Mentor] There definitely
seems to be

a method to this behavior,

although I can't say what it is.

Don't sweat it, Mentor.
We'll know soon enough,

seeing as how
we're going to be following.

In the pirates' footsteps
in no time!

No, Pip. We cannot give in.

Never will I accept such a fate!

The Watcher is not always right!

Indeed, everything he said
points to the fact

that the Watchers
havebeen wrong.

Slurper!

Silver Surfer! No!

[groaning]

[grunting]

Looks like it's our turn
now, Draxy, old kid.

Bye, Kili.

Funny how I never knew
how good I had it back home.

I don't get it.

Something must have gone wrong.
I mean, right!

I mean... W-What in the
name of Kree do I mean?

What is happening to me?

I was the Silver Surfer.

Now...
still do I think and feel,

but as what?

Is this possible?

I have no eyes, and yet...

I see clearly.

[together] Surfer.

Come join us.

Oneness and knowledge await.

[Silver Surfer] Nebula. Geatar!

[together] The same,
and yet, more.

For we are also
the rest of the crew.

And Mentor...

[Watcher Prime] And all of us,

the lost Watchers, as well.

All the virals are one?

You are united
in a community mind?

How has this come to be?

Hey, what's-what's
going on here?

Almost seems like they're
trying to talk to each other.

Oh, yeah, sure they are!

[Watcher Prime] Although others
cannot perceive it,

to become a viral is not
to devolve to mindlessness

but to move up to the knowledge
of all things.

[Silver Surfer] Every fiber
of my being

cries out to join you,

yet, I cannot.

What is stopping me?

[Nebula/Geatar] That which stops
you from everything, Silver Surfer.

[Mentor] Your creator...

[Silver Surfer] Galactus!

[Watcher Prime] That part
of him which resides within you.

The power you hate and fear,
yet continue to use.

[Nebula/Geatar]
The Power Cosmic itself.

[Mentor] As long as you possess
it, you belong to the devourer.

[Watcher Prime] Your very
heart and soul are still his.

If you would attain your dream

then you must renounce
the power,

Give it up.

[Silver Surfer]
But without the Power Cosmic

how will I get to Zenn-La?

[Watcher Prime] It will be knowledge,
and knowledge is its own end.

[Mentor] See, Silver Surfer.

How we control
our own evolution.

Join us now

as the evolutionary ultimate.

Fulfill your destiny.

[Silver Surfer] Knowledge is
useless if it cannot be acted upon.

If I remain a viral,

everything I learn
will go for naught.

[Mentor] Then you must renounce
the power, give it up.

Just when you think
you've seen everything.

[Silver Surfer]
The virals seek to force me

to give up the very essence
of who I am.

I must summon
all the Power Cosmic within me

and use it to recreate

that which the virals
would destroy.

No matter the consequences,

now and forever,
must I be the Silver Surfer.

[groans]

To me, my board!

Virals, hear me!

I belong to no one.

Not Galactus, not you!

I am a free man!

[Watcher Prime] The Power Cosmic
has purged you of the virus, Silver Surfer.

You have won,
but so do you lose.

Pip!

[Pip] Right at you, Surfy.

Drax, I am pleased to see
that you have recovered.

Where is Mentor?
I must help him.

I'm afraid that is not possible,

but you can take comfort

in the fact that he found
what he was looking for.

All those long years.

[Drax] All the ship's systems
check out.

There's one thing
I still don't get.

How come everybody turned
into a viral except Drax and Me?

I believe it was with the
exception of the two of you,

everyone had a selfish reason

for being
at the Universal Library.

Nebula and her men
wanted financial gain,

Mentor wanted
vengeance on Thanos

and I was willing to do anything
to find my way home.

But you and Drax came here

only because you
were aiding others.

The original Watchers, too,
were selfish.

They wanted the knowledge
for its own sake,

not as a tool to be used

and that attitude
triggered the virus.

Uh-oh! The beacon's getting
ready to guide us some place,

but where?

It seems to me there's
only one way to find out.

Shall we go?

So filled am I
with sorrow for Mentor

that I do not feel ready
for anything.

I am purposeless, empty.

Drax, you have earned
the right to your own life.

And, Pip,
my experience here has shown me

I have not been worthy
of your loyalty.

Hey, y-you trying to say
you're not going with us?

[Silver Surfer] It is for you
I make that decision.

My obsession with Zenn-La
almost cost you your life.

I have much to think about.

Of what value is it
for me to gain Zenn-La

if I lose the beliefs
Zenn-La holds dear?

Thanks, Slurper, for,

for everything.

We will meet again,
Silver Surfer.

Of that, there can be no doubt.

I will miss Pip
more than I could tell him.

But just as he was willing to
give up everything to save me,

so must I sacrifice
for his good.

The virals showed me key
elements of the history of Zenn-La.

With that data,
I can continue my search

even as I ponder
its true meaning.

[Eternity] Watcher, your shame
remains unrevealed.

No one knows it was you
who created the virals

by convincing
your people to act.

Which is why I continue
to bring them new knowledge.

It is a responsibility
I cannot deny.

And now, dear sister,

what think you of the Surfer?

He has surprised me with
his capacity to grow as a man.

If he lives up to his potential

when the crisis comes,

the universe just may survive.

Fly well, Silver Surfer.

Someday, the future of all
creation will be in your hands.

[theme song playing]